Flat panel displays can be fabricated using many techniques. Typical embodiments are disclosed in Liquid Crystal Flat Panel Displays by William C. O'Mara (Chapman & Hall, New York, 1993), and other similar publications. These displays use transparent glass plates as substrates, and electrical traces are sputtered in a pattern of parallel lines that form a first set of conductive traces. A transparent conductor such as Indium Tin Oxide is sputtered over the traces to disperse an electrical charge across transparent areas not blocked by the traces. A second substrate is similarly coated with a set of traces having a transparent conductive layer. Layers are applied over the substrates and patterned to orient liquid crystals in twisted nematic (TN) or super-twisted-nematic (STN) configurations. The two substrates are spaced apart and the space between the two substrates is filled with a liquid crystal material. Pairs of conductors from either set are selected and energized to alter the optical transmission properties of the liquid crystal material.
In another embodiment, the traces do not define an orthogonal grid, but form graphical symbols or organized to form alpha-numeric displays. In a further embodiment, an active display on a transparent substrate is sputtered or printed and uses memory elements to continuously drive a each display element depending on information written to the memory element. In another embodiment, disclosed in SID DIGEST 90, article 12.6, the liquid crystal material can be polymerically dispersed to form a Liquid Crystal Polymer Matrix (LCPC). LCPCs are typically disposed in ultra-violet polymerized acrylic polymers. The liquid crystals are homogenized into the polymer, and the emulsion is coated onto a substrate. Ultra violet light is applied to the emulsion. The emulsion hardens, and bubbles of liquid crystal material are held in a rigid polymeric matrix.
Image displays can provide color images if a color filter array is formed over the pixels of the display. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,822, three color layers are formed on a transparent substrate. In this patent, a transparent electrode layer is formed over the color filter. The filter plate is aligned onto a liquid crystal layer. The plate is glass and has silver halide, color-forming layers. A transparent electrode material is sputtered at high temperature over the CFA. In practice, the presence of the transparent electrode material causes ionic migration of the dyes in the dye layers. It would be advantageous to separate the electrically conductive layer from the dye layers.
The prior art requires many multiple, separate layers to build up the display. The electrical traces and transparent conductive layers are typically formed through repeated deposition of materials on the substrate through vacuum deposition. These processes are expensive and require long processing times on capital intensive equipment. It would advantageous to lower the cost of flat panel displays. Additionally, current structures are not amenable to the creation of low-cost large flat panel displays. It would be advantageous to be able to form low-cost, large flat-panel displays.